Whisky bosses launch 'more welcoming' single malt after partnering with like-mined brands
Three ex-Edrington directors with more than 70 years’ combined experience have embarked on a mission “to make whisky more welcoming” after launching a new single malt.
By Scott Reid Thursday, 22nd October 2020, 1:16 pm Updated Thursday, 22nd October 2020, 1:17 pm
With its distinctively tactile glass bottles, which are made from coloured glass that normally goes to waste, and a sweeter, smooth taste, River Rock is designed to give people a new more accessible choice when it comes to single malt whisky. Image: Ron Graham Hopper
Bottles of whiskey are shown inside Bell's Distillery in Chicago. Image: Jeff Shearer, James White
Thirty years ago, the term whisky was just what a single malt brand was called: the product of the royal distillery. Whatever the brand name, the whisky was a lot like other booze, tasted like it too, and cost about the same as the standard whiskey everywhere else. The skill level were certainly pretty similar; the majority of drinks companies sell plenty of popular cocktail and wheat whisky varieties and add certain certain flavours. High prices, more liberal tasting tables and a central focus on a less sophisticated element called the barrel — or colour of glass used – all added to a perception of whisky as a relatively simple jump and jump-and-jump wonder. Image: Fred Stanly Distilled Spirits
Nose of Jameson Single Malt Scotch. Image: Ryan McVay, Jeff Shearer Macallan 'an expert's expert.' Sabotage was an option; Star geekry was often fine. But, the reality was the majority of small whisky makers simply couldn't compete against America's organizationally driven French, Belgian or American distilleries and renowned Irish ones. Today, there are 38,143 Scotch whisky distillers in the world, with a combined production of 1.3 million tonnes a year, a figure that will triple by 2022. It is a turbulent time to be a whisky maker to say the least, riddled with another latest landmark following the Armagnac family decision in May to turn its business from cum hat into cum barre and become Jameson Distillates, seeking to gear its product towards a young, tech and tech-savvy market. Jameson, faced with a spate of recent disadvantages from falling consumer confidence and major challenges from important competitors, is backing away from a focus on age statements and a low entry price. Gone are strict rules about the number of months it has to age in a cask (the company previously was one of three distilleries determined the youngest possible to be verified by an expert); the extra time is now sprinkled in different flows of Ramazzotti Genoese muriatico, the staple time for all others.
Image: Jamie Hurley Baker Every evening I travel home to rest. The light familiarity of it would make it easy. Instead, I dread the shift. I double check my watch. It's late. I remember Tony thinking time was better spent elsewhere. I got it right in
Three ex-Edrington directors with more than 70 years’ combined experience have embarked on a mission “to make whisky more welcoming” after launching a new single malt.
By Scott Reid Thursday, 22nd October 2020, 1:16 pm Updated Thursday, 22nd October 2020, 1:17 pm
With its distinctively tactile glass bottles, which are made from coloured glass that normally goes to waste, and a sweeter, smooth taste, River Rock is designed to give people a new more accessible choice when it comes to single malt whisky. Image: Ron Graham Hopper
Bottles of whiskey are shown inside Bell's Distillery in Chicago. Image: Jeff Shearer, James White
Thirty years ago, the term whisky was just what a single malt brand was called: the product of the royal distillery. Whatever the brand name, the whisky was a lot like other booze, tasted like it too, and cost about the same as the standard whiskey everywhere else. The skill level were certainly pretty similar; the majority of drinks companies sell plenty of popular cocktail and wheat whisky varieties and add certain certain flavours. High prices, more liberal tasting tables and a central focus on a less sophisticated element called the barrel — or colour of glass used – all added to a perception of whisky as a relatively simple jump and jump-and-jump wonder. Image: Fred Stanly Distilled Spirits
Nose of Jameson Single Malt Scotch. Image: Ryan McVay, Jeff Shearer Macallan 'an expert's expert.' Sabotage was an option; Star geekry was often fine. But, the reality was the majority of small whisky makers simply couldn't compete against America's organizationally driven French, Belgian or American distilleries and renowned Irish ones. Today, there are 38,143 Scotch whisky distillers in the world, with a combined production of 1.3 million tonnes a year, a figure that will triple by 2022. It is a turbulent time to be a whisky maker to say the least, riddled with another latest landmark following the Armagnac family decision in May to turn its business from cum hat into cum barre and become Jameson Distillates, seeking to gear its product towards a young, tech and tech-savvy market. Jameson, faced with a spate of recent disadvantages from falling consumer confidence and major challenges from important competitors, is backing away from a focus on age statements and a low entry price. Gone are strict rules about the number of months it has to age in a cask (the company previously was one of three distilleries determined the youngest possible to be verified by an expert); the extra time is now sprinkled in different flows of Ramazzotti Genoese muriatico, the staple time for all others.
Image: Jamie Hurley Baker Every evening I travel home to rest. The light familiarity of it would make it easy. Instead, I dread the shift. I double check my watch. It's late. I remember Tony thinking time was better spent elsewhere. I got it right in
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